Life Worth Living
by Psycho-Barbie16
Summary: Start with something pure, something exciting. Then come the mistakes. The compromises. We create our own demons. But not always, because sometimes, in the middle of all the madness. We find an Angel.
1. Chapter 1

"Mom! Momma! Come quick!" A five year old called from her place seated at the window, making her twenty-three year old mother run from the kitchen with the youngest of the bunch in her arms, in her arms.

"What was wrong? I need the first aid kit?" Angel called frantically as she rushed into the living room.

"No come here." The five year old, Chanel, said with a wide smile, waving her mother over with a smile and not turning away from the window.

"What is it?"

"It's a falling star." She said innocently pointing up at the sky, where something indeed resembling a falling star was falling from the sky but Angel couldn't be sure.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Make a wish." Chanel snapped her eyes closed tightly and stayed that way for a few moments before opening them, and beaming. Chanel continued to stare wistfully out the window while Angel glanced at the time and sighed, it was fast approaching her bedtime.

"C'mon babe, time to get ready for bed." Chanel immediately started protesting.

"But I'm not even tired." She complained while Angel pulled her from the seat.

"Well, I am. Bath. Bed. Now." Angel told her sternly, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Fine." She grumbled but did as told heading to the bathroom.

* * *

Angel went through her nightly routine of getting her daughters to bed and straightening up the house a little when suddenly there was a crash heard from her workshop/garage.

Taking a quick peek at the girls to make sure they weren't disturbed and grabbed one of Chanel's toys to defend herself, which was unfortunately a potato gun that she had slightly modified, and headed out to the garage.

"Freeze!" Angel called out as she entered the garage holding out the potato like it was a real weapon ready to do real damage. "Don't move."

"You got me." The man sitting at the desk in the middle of the shop said, though he was unconcerned, holing up both his hands.

"Look if you're here to rob the place, good luck. I'll help you look." Angel said honestly.

"Nice potato gun." The man continued, and Angel thought that he looked slightly familiar. "Barrel's a little long though. Between that and the wide range it's gonna' diminish your FPS." The man said matter-of-factly and Angel rolled her eyes and shot at a mason jar which exploded on impact. She smirked at him but he simply put his hands down. "And now you're out of ammo." He said in the same tone.

Her eyes narrowed a little then noticed the glowing light from under the fabric of his shirt. "What's that thing on your chest?"

"It's an electromagnet, you should know you've got a box of them right here." He responded shaking said box.

"What does it power?"

The man was silent for beat before he sighed and stood from the stool, turning the light towards the person sitting on the couch, who wasn't actually a person at all.

"Oh My God!" Angel exclaimed dropping the now useless potato gun. "Is that- is that Iron Man?" She asked incredulously.

"Technically, I am." The man said smartly.

Angel scoffed. "Technically, you're dead." Angel said shoving the newspaper into his chest as she moved past him to get a closer look at the suit.

"Valid point." He said looking at the paper.

"What happened to him?" Angel said kneeling on the couch next to the suit and examining it.

"Life. I built him, I'll take care of him." He threw the newspaper to the side. "I'll fix him."

"Like a mechanic?" She concluded.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"If I were building Iron Man and War Machine," Angel said decided to give her opinion.

"It's Iron Patriot, now." He interrupted.

Angel's jaw dropped. "That's way cooler."

"No it's not." He said childishly.

"Anyway I would have added in the retro-reflective panels."

"Retro-reflective panels?" he said at the same time.

"Yeah. To make them stealth mode." She finished.

"Go into stealth mode?"

"Yeah, good right?"

He shrugged. "Actually not a bad idea, I might build one." Angel suddenly reached down and pulled off one of the suits fingers, admittedly by accident. "Not a good idea. You're gonna' break his finger?"

"Oops." Angel said meekly as she sat down on the couch properly.

"He's in pain, he's been injured leave him alone." The man continued.

"Sorry." But Angel couldn't help but chuckle at the way he was talking about the suit.

"Are you?" He asked again. "Don't worry about it I'll fix him." There was silence for a moment then he spoke again. "So, whose home?"

Angel fiddled with the finger. "Just me and my girls, mom died a few years ago and dad went to the 7/11 to get scratchers. I guess he won, because that was about sixteen years ago." She finished shyly.

The man hummed. "Which happens, dads leave no need to be a pussy about it." He said not cruelly but not pitying either which she was used to. "Here's what I need." He said crossing his arms. "A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone. The pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there. A map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich."

"What's in it for me?" Angel shot back.

"Salvation." He said simply. "What's his name?"

"Who?" Angel asked him.

"The person that beats you. Bullies you. What's his name?"

"How did you know that?" Angel asked softly.

"Boyfriend?"

"Ex." Angel corrected.

"I got just the thing." He said removing something from the suit then kneeled down on the other side of it holding a small red and gold, cylindrical object. "This is a piñata for a cricket. I'm kidding it's a very powerful weapon." He held it out for display. "Point it away from your face. Press the little button on the top. It discourages bullying. Non-lethal. Just to cover one's ass."

Angel reached out to grab it but he moved it just out of her reach. "Deal? What'd you say? Deal?"

"Deal." Angel accepted finally getting her hands on it.

"What's your name?"

"Angelica." She said examining the object. "My friends call me Angel. And you're," she trailed off.

"The mechanic." He finished and she turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Tony." He relented. "You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?"

Angel rolled her eyes but stood from the couch and went to make it.

* * *

After Angel made his sandwich and got him the materials that he needed, she had also managed to find him some clothes that he could wear for the time being.

Now she was currently leading him through the town.

"The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, everything else, I'll make do. By the way when you said your kid had a watch, I was hoping for something a little more adult." Tony lifted the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the 'Dora the Explorer' watch strapped to his wrist.

Angel laughed loudly. "She's five besides its limited edition. I got it at a thrift shop." Angel was quiet for a moment. "When can we talk about New York?" she had been meaning to ask for a while.

"Maybe never, relax about it." Tony snapped.

"Well can we talk about the Avengers? My girl loves you guys." Angel tried again.

"I don't know later," Tony back up a few steps. "Kid give me a little space." They approached the memorial set-up in town. "What's the official story here? What happened?"

"Um, this guy named Chad Davis used to live round here." Angel began telling the story. "He won a bunch of medals in the army. Then one day, everyone said he went crazy. Made like, a bomb. Then he blew himself up, right here."

"Six people died right?"

"Yeah."

"Including Chad Davis?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, none of that makes sense." Tony said then sat down next to Angel on the ground. "Think about it." He began. "Six dead, only five shadows." He clarified.

"People say the shadows are to mark the souls going to heaven. Everyone, except Chad. He went to hell, and didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."

"You believe that?"

Angel shrugged. "It's what everyone says. You, know what this crater reminds me of?" Angel decided to try again.

"No idea. I don't care."

"That giant wormhole, in new York. Does it remind you?"

"That's manipulative. I don't wanna talk about it." Tony snapped.

Angel remained unfazed. "Are they coming back, the aliens?"

"Maybe, can you stop?"

"Are you okay?"

"Remember when I told you I have anxiety issues?"

"Does this subject make you edgy?"

"Yeah a little bit. Can I just catch my breath?"

"Do you need a paper bag to breathe into?" Angel was at a lost for what to do. "Are you on medication?"

"Nope." Tony answered shortly.

"Do you need to be on medication?"

"Probably."

"Do you have PTSD?"

"I don't think so."

"Are you going completely _loco_?" Tony started breathing heavily and was beginning to make Angel nervous. "Do you want me to stop? I can stop."

"Remember when I said to stop doing that?" Tony snapped. "I swear you're gonna' freak me out." Angel went silent, Tony suddenly and quickly stood. "Oh man, you've done it now. You happy?"

"Wait what did I say?" she got up and went after him. "Hey! Wait! Stop!" Tony took of his jacket and collapsed in a piled of snow on the curb. "What the hell was that?"

Tony picked up a handful of snow and rubbed it on his face then threw it at her hitting her shoulder. "That was your fault." He said bluntly. "You spazzed me out."

"You know it helps to talk to someone about stuff like that." Angel told him whipping the snow.

"Yeah? And how would you know?"

"Because panic attacks suck. I know, I used to get them all the time when dad left."

Tony stared at her foe a moment before shoving his hat back on his head. "Whatever. Back to business. Where were we? The guy that died. Relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis? Where is she?"

"Where she always is."

"See. Now you're being helpful."

* * *

 **New story that I promised here it is.**

 **This one really came out of the blue while I was struggling with my writer's block for '** _Phoenix Will Rise'._ **But her, now that I've got it out of my system maybe I can get somewhere with it.**

 **But anyways you guys know the deal. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Tony left Angel outside the bar for her own safety and kept himself bundled up in his coat as he moved through the crowds.

With it close to Christmas time, the streets were flooded with people Christmas shopping and being with friends before the hectic life of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. With all of that, he could blend in with no problem

That's when Tony ran into a woman with a choppy haircut, her fiery red hair to match. She had a scar along her cheek and her eyes were a deep brown. When he turned around to see who it was who had dropped something from his crash into her. "You dropped this," Tony spoke while handing her some kind of wallet.

Tony couldn't stop staring at the scars on her face the closer she got. "Nice haircut. It suits you."

"Nice watch." She spoke as she looked down to Tony's wrist.

"Limited edition." Tony defended while showing it off.

"Oh," She spoke with a flirty smile. "I don't doubt it." She looked him over again "Have a good evening."

He ducked into the bar and found a woman at a table all to herself, sipping on a drink and letting dog tags float right above the surface of the table, he quickly ordered a drink then made his way over to her.

"Mrs. Davis," Tony spoke, causing her to look up as he placed his drink down on the table. "Mind if I join you?"

Mrs. Davis looked up with nothing but pain in her eyes. "Free country." She spoke with a shrug as Tony took in a deep sigh.

"That it is." Tony said taking the seat opposite her.

"Alright," Mrs. Davis spoke looking at him "Where would you like to start?"

"I just want to say I'm sorry for you loss." Tony spoke simply with a shrug."And," Tony continued. "I want to know what you think happened."

She stared Tony down for a beat then sighed angrily. "I brought your damn file." Tony blinked a couple of times, definitely not expecting that reaction as she slid it to her. "Take it and go." She brought her drink to her lips again as he began sifting through the file. "Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it."

"Clearly you're waiting for someone else." Tony spoke confused. "Supposed to meet somebody here?"

"Yeah." She spoke in a kind of guilty voice.

That's when Tony looked over the file, finding other people listed on it. One of the names was Taggart, J. That's when he remembered the dog tags that were found at the Chinese Theatre.

Tony calmly closed the file. "Mrs. Davis," He spoke calmly, moving closer to get a better look at her. "Your son didn't kill himself. I guarantee you, he didn't kill anyone."

She looked back at him with wide eyes, not understanding what he was talking about. "What?" She whispered out.

"Someone used him." Tony told her gently. "As a weapon."

Mrs. Davis moved her hand forward, placing it on his and looking Tony straight in the eye. "You're not the person who called me after all, are you?"

Tony opened his mouth, about to speak, but was interrupted by a badge slamming onto the table. They all jumped, looking up the owner just to see the redhead from outside. "Actually, I am."

She looked to Tony, giving him a slight smile as Tony looked down at the badge in confusion, realizing that this is what he gave her when he bumped into her. Suddenly, she grabbed him by the wrist, slamming him down on the table while pulling out her handcuffs.

"Hey, what's all this about? What's going on here?" The sheriff asked as Tony quickly picked up the dog tags and stuffed them in his jacket.

The redhead looked to the sheriff. "It's called an arrest." She spoke as she picked Tony up, cuffing the other wrist before throwing him down on the ground.

"Sheriff is it." the redhead said turning back to the sheriff.

"That's right. And you are?" The sheriff spoke to her.

"Homeland security." She spoke holding up her badge. "We good here?"

"No we're not good. I need a little more information than that."

"Well I'm afraid that's a little above your paid grade sheriff." The redhead spoke while Tony and Mrs. Davis shared a look and he nodded towards the file and she quickly threw it under the door and out the bar.

The redhead's hand began to glow orange, and Tony's jaw dropped slightly. She slammed the red hot badge into the sheriff's face, sending everyone into a frenzy before she reached her other hand, plunging it into his gut, then grabbing the deputy's gun shooting them both.

Tony ran outside and turned back as the redhead stalked out after him. "Hey," He called out to her. "Hot wings. You want a party? You and me! Let's go!"

Tony ran outside to find Savin, the security guard accompanying Killian and Zeke at Stark Industries, stepping out of a town car with hot coffee in his hand. He gave Tony a smile, throwing his coffee up in cheers as his eyes began to glow orange just like the redhead.

Tony turned around quickly, trying to find someplace else to hide as Savin pulled out a gun. He aimed it right at Tony and it would have been a perfect shot if Angel wouldn't have thrown a snowball at him. Savin turned around to see her peeking out from behind a pole, making it up in his mind that he was going after her next.

Tony ducked behind a car, noticing that someone else was hiding behind it. He gave the man a slight nod, appreciating this second to catch his breath. "Crazy, huh?" He spoke in the most casual voice he could manage.

"Yeah." The man spoke with a simple nod, finding his cool with his hiding place, laying side by side with a car parallel parked by a curb.

Tony looked behind him, making sure he had a chance to get away before looking back to him. "Watch this." Tony ran forward, getting up the momentum before throwing himself through a bakery shop window with his back.

Tony had stood up from his crash, but when he stood up, he saw that the redhead had obtained a gun. She cocked the gun back as he ran, ducking behind the front register just as the gun went off. He hurried, hiding at the edge of the corner before turning around to run back to the kitchen, but when he turned around, she was right there.

She grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to stand up before throwing him into a wall. She punched him in the face, causing him to bend down from the impact. She then grabbed him by the arm, flipping him over. He could feel his head throbbing from that hit he took, but he got back up, managing to get his cuffs on her neck just as she began to turn orange to burn the metal away.

He fell back before shaking what was left of the cuffs off. Tony reached for the oil nearby, throwing it forward so it created a path before kicking the cuffs into it, sparking a fire.

He pulled the dog tags from his pocket and threw them into microwave and turned it on. "You walked right into this one." Tony spoke as he pulled the hose for the oven out. "I've dated hotter chicks than you."

She burst through the door to get into the kitchen he jumped slightly. "That's all you got?" She asked, getting closer. "A cheap trick and a cheesy one liner?"

"Sweetheart," Tony spoke quickly while he backed up through the door. "That could be the name of my autobiography."

He ran from the kitchen stopping in an alleyway and hiding behind an ice box, pulling out the door as a form of protection right as the place exploded.

Tony heard a ringing in his ears and stumbled slightly as he moved from the alleyway. He watched the people run around him in panic and glanced up seeing the redhead hanging from the power cables.

He then heard bolts coming undone and when he looked up, he saw the legs of the water tower turning that hot orange and at the base with his hand on it was Savin. As he pulled his hand away the water tower came down and Tony ran until he reached a chain link fence and he knew he couldn't go any further and braced himself for the impact of the water.

* * *

While that was happening Savin went and found Angel, he snuck up behind her while she was clearly looking for Tony and injected her in the neck with a syringe. When she spun around to pull it out he threw her over his shoulder and made his way back to where he left Stark, while she struggled.

* * *

When the water cleared, Tony realized his foot was stuck in the framework of the actual tower. He used one of the spare parts that fell of the framework to try to get his foot loose, but was interrupted by the voice of a girl. "Let me go!"

"Help me." Savin imitated with Angel thrown over his shoulder as he dragged a chair behind him. Tony looked over at them feeling helpless. "Help me." Savin laughed sitting down in the chair and pulling Angel onto his lap holding her around the waist. "Anyway," Tony continued trying to get his foot free, knowing he had to protect Angel. "What would you like for Christmas beautiful?" He asked her with a sick smile.

"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry." Angel pleaded still trying to get away.

"No," Savin spoke as his eyes began to glow orange. "I think what she was trying to say is, 'I want my goddamn file'."

"It's not your fault, kid." Tony spoke while shaking his head, becoming even more worried at the sight of Savin's hand glowing orange right on Angel's chest. "Remember what I told you about bullies?"

Angel looked at him realizing what he meant, and when he gave her an encouraging nod, she pulled the gadget from her pocket and blasted Savin in the face with the blinding light. He fell back releasing her and she immediately took off running.

"You like that, West World?!" Tony yelled once Angel got free. "That's the thing about smart guys." Tony spoke once Savin stood up. "We always cover our ass." He quickly pulled a thruster out of his sleeve, aiming it right at Savin, sending a blast at him, knocking him down.

He used a piece of wood to free his leg and stood moving over to where Savin was down he studied him, realizing he wasn't moving and he realized that with these guys, you couldn't tell if they were dead or knocked out not wanting to stick around long to find out he pulled Savin's car keys from his pocket and left him there.

* * *

Tony began to hurry back to the town car that Savin had walked out of with the file in his hands. "You're welcome." He suddenly heard a few feet away from them, and turned over to look at Angel walking over to him with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"For what?" Tony asked, half turning to her. "Did I miss something?"

"Me," Angel spoke obviously hitting his arm. "Saving your life."

"A:" Tony spoke while putting his finger up. "Saved you first. B: Thanks, sort of." He shrugged. "And C: if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz, alright? Just play it cool. Otherwise, you'll come off as a grandiose."

He unlocked the car and opened the driver's door. "Unlike you?" He stopped hearing Angel's voice behind him. "Admit it," He looked back at her. "You need me. We're connected."

Tony moved forward, putting his baseball cap on Angel's head. "What I need is for you to go home, be with your kids, keep your trap shut, guard the suit and stay _connected_ to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up." He then looked up dramatically. "Can you feel that?" He clapped his hand on Angel's shoulder, looking her right in the eye. "We're done here." He started to get into the car. "Move out of the way or I'll run you over. Bye kid."

He hopped in the car then turned it on and then slowly rolled down the window. He let out a half smile at the sight of Angel still standing there despite what he had just told her. He would kind of miss her. "I'm sorry, kid. You did good."

"So now you're just gonna leave me here, like my dad?" Angel asked him sadly.

Tony put on his best thinking face, knowing exactly what she was doing before nodding. "Yeah. Wait, you're guilt tripping me, aren't you?"

Angel smirked. "Is it working?" She pulled her blanket in closer, giving her best puppy dog face. "Cuz' I'm cold."

"I can tell." Tony spoke with a pout as he put the car into gear. "You want to know how I can tell. Because we're connected." With that, Tony sped off, leaving Angel standing there.

She sighed and dropped her arms. "Worth a shot." She shrugged.


	3. Chapter 3

Angel probed at her neck where Savin had stuck her with the syringe. So far there weren't any symptoms that she could identify with other than the fact that she was almost boiling hot, that thought was quickly forgotten however when the symbol of the Mandarin flashed up on her computer which was charging Tony's Iron Man suit.

* * *

All across America television screens, computers, car radios, everything showed the Mandarin's symbol. The screen cut to riots, explosions and fire, making Angel jump at the sound of it. The screen then cut to a close up of the Mandarin, giving the camera a menacing look. "Mr. President," he announced, making everyone tense up at his voice, especially the president. "Only two lessons remain and I intend to finish this by Christmas morning."

The camera zoomed out, showing a man lying on the floor, the Mandarin pointing a gun only a few inches from the side of his head. "Meet Thomas Richards. Good strong name. Good strong job." Everyone in America felt their pulse pick up as they watched, knowing this man was ruthless. "Thomas here is an accountant for the Roxxon Oil Corporation," he nodded, almost sadly. "And I'm sure he's a really good guy." He pouted his lip a little before taking the gun off safety. "I'm gonna shoot him in the head."

They could hear Thomas's tears worsen as Tony slammed on the breaks and pulled over to the side of the road he looked to the radio in fear of what was going to happen next. "Live on your television in thirty seconds." Thomas's cries got even louder as the Mandarin sat back in his chair while pointing over to the old school telephone resting on a table next to him. "The number for this telephone is in your cell phone. Exciting, isn't it? Imagining how it got there."

He moved forward again, putting the gun back to Thomas's head. "America, if your president calls me in the next half-minute, Tom lives." He took a dramatic pause while looking into the camera menacingly. "Go."

All of America waited on bated breath until the Mandarin's phone finally began ringing. After a few rings, the Mandarin leaned forward and shot Tom in the head. Angel screamed as Tony jumped from the loud sound of the shot. Angel stared in shock at her computer screen. While Tony, he looked to the radio with rage bubbling in his whole body.

There seemed to be a silence passing over the nation from this broadcast. A terrorist just shot an American citizen on their national television and radio airwaves. The Mandarin was staring into the camera, beginning to shake his head. "There is just one lesson left, President Ellis; so, run away, hide, kiss your children goodbye because nothing, not your army, not your red, white and blue attack dog can save you." He paused again, looking into the camera, almost as if he was looking everyone in the nation right in the eye. "I'll see you soon."

Angel sat in shock in her home while Tony put his car back into gear and slowly stared driving once again silently vowing to kill the Mandarin.

* * *

"I told you, you needed me." Angel spoke smugly after answering Tony's unexpected video call.

"I'm not gonna' say you were right if that's what you want?" Tony said rolling his eyes as he waited for Gary's knock.

"It's implied, good enough for me. What'd you need?" Angel asked him.

"A second pair of eyes that I can trust." Tony said simply then there was a knock on the van and he quickly knocked back and began hacking into the AIM server with Rhodey's access, but made his access unlimited by taking down the firewall and found the file that read Chad Davis, and split the screen so that Angel could see as well. Then pressed play on the video.

"What would you say was the defining moment of your life?" The interviewer on the video asked, but Tony knew whose voice that was. Aldrich Killian.

"I think that would be the day I decided not to let my injury beat me."

Tony clicked on another video and this was of the redhead that attacked him. "Please state your name for the camera."

"Ellen Brandt."

"Okay, so," the camera turned around and Killian sat on a chair in front of the redhead. "The injections are administered periodically. Addiction will not be tolerated and those who cannot regulate will be cut from the program."

Tony clicked on another video, while Angel sat quietly in shock, was this thing that Savin had injected her with? "Once misfits, cripples, you are the next iteration of human evolution."

Tony looked up Extremis in the search bar where he found videos of all the test subjects walking into a lab. "Hi, everybody." Killian's voice rang out again. "Before we start, I promise you, looking back at your life there will be nothing as bitter as the memory of that glorious risk that you prudently elected to forego."

"Today is your glory." He spoke grandly as everyone got attached to their machines with looks of anxiousness on their face. "Let's begin."

Whatever it was got pumped into Ellen's body. She was whining and twitching, but right before them, the glowing orange serum replaced what was gone on her arm. There was screaming, the camera panning to one man who was throwing himself back, his sounds not of discomfort like Ellen's, but of agony. "We gotta get out of here!" Aldrich spoke as the camera panned to him. All of the personnel and a few of the patients got out, but they had to leave others behind. The man exploded, sending the rest to ash just like him.

"A bomb isn't a bomb when it's a misfire." Tony whispered to himself as they looked at the empty, fiery room.

"Tony?" Angel spoke weakly making him shut off the video and look at her on the screen.

"What's wrong?"

"I think that stuff's inside me." She spoke softly.

"What?"

"That man, that was with Ellen, he injected me with something. What if that happens to me? What if I die? My daughters, I can't-" Angel was on the verge of hyperventilating when Tony cut her off.

"Angel! Angel, calm down. I'm not gonna' let anything happen to you." He spoke reassuringly. "Alright?" Angel nodded. "I'll call you back when I need an update on the suit." She nodded weakly again and he ended their video call.

Tony released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. Killian had destroyed his home. He separated him from Pepper, and had put in harm's way the girl that had wormed her way into his life. He wasn't mad anymore, he was furious. "The stuff doesn't always work, huh, pal?" He had to breathe angry breaths out his nose. "It's faulty, but you found a buyer, didn't ya? You sold it to the Mandarin."

* * *

 **Hey everyone, if you follow my other Marvel story you'll see that I'm going on vacation in the next few days and will not be able to update. However when I do get back I'll be posting a new chapter.**

 **But in the mean time could I get 3 reviews on this story? It would really make me happy ^_^.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Shout out to** ** _Wolfy-Queen_ for the support and being my first review on this story**

* * *

"Angel," Tony spoke while tapping the steering wheel slightly. "Tell me what's happening. Give me a full report."

"I'm still drinking coffee." She told him through the speakers "Do you want me to stop?"

"How much have you had?"

"Two or three cups."

"Can you still see straight?" Tony asked.

Angel hummed while staring at the computer screen. "Sort of."

"That means your fine." Tony spoke with a nod. "Give me Jarvis." Tony spoke anxiously.

"Jarvis," Tony asked once he heard the phone get set down at the Iron Man suit. "How are we?"

"It's totally fine, sir." Jarvis spoke. "I seem to do quite well for a stretch and then at the end of a sentence, I say the wrong cranberry."

"Cranberry?" Angel repeated to herself staring down at the suit.

Tony blinked at the response the Jarvis continued. "And, sir, you were right. Once I factored an available AIM downlink facilities, I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal."

"What are we talking?" Tony asked. "The far East? Europe? Africa? Iran? Pakistan? Syria? Where is he?"

"Actually, sir, it's in Miami."

"Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is."

Angel looked at the screen confused. "Um, it does say Miami, Florida."

"Okay," Tony rolled his neck back. "First things first. I need the armour. Where we at with it?"

"Uh," Angel paused as she read the screen. "It's not charging."

Tony slammed on the breaks as he pulled over to the side of the road, and pried his shaking hands off the wheel. "Actually sir," Jarvis spoke, causing Tony to look up, slightly hopeful. "It is charging, but the power source is questionable, it may not succeed in revitalizing Mark 42."

"What's questionable about electricity?!" He screamed out. "It's my suit and I can't, I'm not gonna-"

"Tony?" Angel asked him softly.

"Oh, god, not again." He whispered as he threw the door open.

"Tony?" Angel's voice called again while Tony stood outside the car gripping the door tightly "Are you having another panic attack? I didn't even mention New York."

"Right," He spoke as he began to fall to the ground, losing his grip on the door. "Right, and then you just said it, _by name_ , while denying having said it."

Angel smacked herself on her forehead having ignored that little fact.

"Oh, god, what am I gonna do?"

"You're gonna' breathe. Tony Just breathe." Angel tried to keep as calm as possible for his benefit. "Tony, you're a mechanic right?"

"Right." Tony answered while catching his breath.

"You said so?" She continued knowing that keeping his mind on one topic would help.

"Yes I did."

"So why don't you just build something?"

Tony realized that that was in fact a great idea and stood up from the snow. "Okay," he nodded despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "Thanks kid." He said as he got back into the car.

* * *

Angel stumbled into the house around 5 o'clock that morning and didn't even make it to her room before collapsing on the couch. As soon as she hit she immediately started dozing when there was a knock at the door.

Angel groaned loudly and rolled off the couch, getting to her feet and moving to answer the door.

Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again, clearly impatient. "I'm coming!" Angel opened the door only to immediately try to slam it shut after seeing Savin on the other side.

The braced his hand against the door and pushed despite Angel's best efforts to keep him out, he overpowered her and pushed the door opened knocking her to the floor.

She scrambled to her feet and raced to the kitchen to grab to phone, just as she got her hands on it her grasped the back of her head in a tight rough grip and pulled.

"Ah, ah, what'd you think you're doing huh?" Savin asked grabbing the phone and his hand glowed orange instantly melting it.

She elbowed him hard in the ribs making him grunt and release her. Once again she made a run and he tackled her causing her to slam her head on the ground. He flipped her over and straddled her waist wrapping his hands around her next and squeezing until she stopped fighting and fell unconscious.

Savin pulled her up and tossed her over his shoulder then dumped her into the trunk of the car he had stolen and headed to the airfield.


	5. Chapter 5

When Angel woke she was strapped down to a metal table that was stood straight up, unconsciously the first thing she did was try and get free of her restraints.

"Don't." A soft voice warned her. "You'll only make it worse." The voice said and Angel looked to see a tall skinny woman with strawberry blonde hair strapped up but like she was but she stopped struggling.

"Where are we?" Angel questioned her.

"I don't know." Came the sad response.

"Why-" Angel's next question was cut off by another voice.

"Why are you here?" Angel looked over to see Aldrich Killian strolling into the room. "Well, you two are here because we have plans for you. Big plans." Killian turned to the older woman. "Pepper, I see you've met your boyfriends little girlfriend."

Pepper looked shocked and Angel quickly shook her head now realizing where she recognized the older woman, more often than nought you could find her by Tony Stark's side during press conferences, and she was presently the CEO of Stark Industries.

"I'll let you two get acquainted."Killian said as he backed from the room.

Angel quickly turned to Pepper. "I swear it's not like that." She began to explain.

"It's okay. I wouldn't believe a word that comes out of that man's mouth." Pepper soothed. "But I didn't get your name."

"It's Angel, and I was helping Tony to find you. I think we're in Miami."

"Miami?" Pepper echoed. "Well-what's in Miami?"

* * *

Tony woke up in his own torture chamber, looking around then groaning seeing that he was zip-tipped to a bed frame. "Okay." He grumbled in defeat, but then looked forward to see Maya Hanson staring at him with a light smile on her lips.

"It's just like old times, huh?"

Tony sighed as he looked back to his restraints. "Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It was a ball."

Maya sighed sadly. "It wasn't my idea."

"Okay," Tony spoke, thinking back on their night together. "You took Killian's card."

"I took his money." She snapped.

"And here you are, thirteen years later in a dungeon."

She shook her head with her lips pursed. "No."

"Yes." He argued back.

"No," She spoke, leaning forward slightly. "You're in a dungeon. I'm free to go." Tony shook his head while looking away from her, he was going to focus all of his energy on getting out of there. "A lot has happened Tony." She spoke, making her way down the stairs to get closer to him. "But I'm close. Extremis is almost stable." Maya defended as she got closer to him, knowing that she needed to reason with him in order to get his help.

"And I'm telling you it isn't!" Tony shouted, causing her to jump, not understanding. "I saw them on the street. People are going 'bang', they're painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself."

"Then help me fix this." She spoke while shoving the card from Berlin in his face confidently. He didn't understand what she was talking about first, not until she spun the card around and there was a formula on the back of it.

He was completely confused at the sight of it, but he connected the dots, finding out what she thought was going on. "Did I do that?"

Her face completely fell as she looked at him, bringing the card down, defeated. "Yes."

"I remember the night. Not the morning." Tony spoke with a shrug. Her face just fell even more. "Is this what you've been chasing around?"

"You don't remember?" She asked, her voice almost cracking.

"I can't help you." He told her honestly. Then looked at her defeated form closely. "You used to have moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you." She looked everywhere but Tony's eyes, finding that the hardest truth out of all of this. "I get to wake up every morning with someone who, still has their soul."

They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other, knowing how much truth was in that statement and all Tony wanted to do was be with his matching soul again. "Get me out of here." He commanded. "Come on."

That flash of the old Maya went away just as quickly as it came. She turned dark again, stepping back, just in time for a new voice to enter the playing field. "You know what my old man used to say to me?" Tony rolled his eyes in the direction of who was coming for him. "One of his favourite of many sayings. 'The early bird gets the worm. The second mouse gets the cheese'."

"You're not still pissed about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Tony asked with his head cocked to the side slightly.

"How can I be pissed at you Tony? I'm here to thank you." Tony gave him an annoyed look as he ended up only a few inches from his face. "You gave me the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. Desperation." Tony's glare continued to deepen as he looked at him. He really hated this guy. "If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first…" He took a pause as the thought. "Twenty minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour, I considered taking that one step short cut to the lobby. If you know what I mean."

"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse."

"But as I looked down over that city," Killian continued. "Nobody knew I was there. No one could see me. Nobody was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony." Tony gave him a fake excited face, but nothing was getting to him. "Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since, right?" Maya nodded with a bit of a smile on her face, taking Tony by complete shock that she would ever agree to this. "You simply rule from behind the scenes, because the moment you give evil a face – Bin Laden, Gaddafi, the Mandarin – you hand the people a target."

Tony couldn't even look at him as he sat next to his briefcase, finding himself just shaking his head. "You're something else."

He looked back to Tony with a curious face. "You have met him, I assume?"

"Yeah, Sir Lawrence Oblivion."

"I know he's a little over the top sometimes, it's not entirely my fault." He began to struggle with the words to truly explain Trevor. "He has a tend-he's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is." He sighed, trying to get himself back on track. "Anyway, the point is ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety's kind of had its day."

"What's next for you in your world?" Tony asked.

"Well, I wanted to repay you for the same gift you so graciously imparted to me." He rolled silver balls onto the floor. Two holograms showed, one displaying Pepper and the other Angel, both in obvious pain. "Desperation." Tony couldn't bring himself to look. "Now, this is live. I'm not sure if you can tell but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up," They were both screaming and it was hurting Tony more than anything could. "And if it gives up, I have to say the denotation is quite spectacular." Maya then shut her eyes, realizing how awful this was to put someone through. "But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain. We haven't even talked salary yet." Killian moved up to Tony, grabbing his neck and beginning to glow a bright orange. "What kind of perk package are you thinking of?"

"Let him go." Maya demanded suddenly.

Killian shut his eyes at her interruption. "Hold on, hold on." He began to turn his head, not sure what to expect from her. "Maya."

When he was turned around, she was holding an injector just inches from her neck. Killian looked confused, but Tony was worried. "I said let him go!"

"What are you doing?"

"1200ccs." She told him confidently. "A dose half of this size and I'm dead."

Killian turned over to Tony with a deep breath, trying to keep his anger in. "It's times like this my temper is tested somewhat." He turned to her, trying to give her a reasonable face. "Maya, give me the injector."

"If I die Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product?"

Killian began to step forward, knowing he had to calm her down. "We're not doing this, okay."

Maya continued to back away, making Killian want to get even closer to her to make sure she didn't do it. "What happens to you? What happens if you go too hot?" She gave him a warning look as Killian looked back at Tony then seemed to make a decision then he quickly pulled his gun out and shot her right in the heart.

Maya's mouth dropped and Tony jumped. She looked to Tony, not knowing what to do and Tony didn't know what to say. She dropped to her knees, feeling the pain spread through her before falling on her back.

"The good news is, a high level position has just been vacated. Maybe your friend Angel can take it up if she survives, her credentials are outstanding." Killian suggested.

Tony looked away from him, and took a breath. "You're a maniac."

"No, I'm a visionary." Killian said as he walked away. "But I do own a maniac, and he takes the stage tonight." He walked out of the room, leaving Tony's mind to run through what just happened.

* * *

Angel jolted up at the heat racing through her veins and also a thought that has suddenly occurred.

"Shit!" She exclaimed tugging at her restraints.

"What?" Pepper asked confused.

"Hey!" She called over to one of the guards. "Hey, I need a phone!"

"What's wrong?" Pepper asked.

"I need a phone please! I need to call my kids." Angel pleaded, not above begging these people.

"What?" Pepper questioned again.

"Please, I need to make sure their okay."

"Lady, shut up!" One of the guards growled.

"Please," Angel cried on the verge of tears. "If you'd just-"

"Do you wanna' die lady? Cuz' I will kill you."

"Woah, woah, woah." Killian said as he entered the room. "Is that any way to treat a guest?" He asked the guard sarcastically. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" Killian asked.

"I need to call home."

"Oh, no, I can't allow that." Killian said in fake sympathy.

"No, no, I have kids and I left them. Please I just want to make sure that they're okay." Angel pleaded. "Please."

Killian stared at her for a moment before sighing and taking out his phone and asking for the number and putting it on speaker once it started ringing.

 _"Hello?"_ A soft innocent voice came through the phone.

Angel immediately felt relief at hearing her daughter's voice. _"Chanel? It's momma."_

 _"Momma, where you? I woke up and you wasn't here?"_

 _"I'm sorry baby I know. Where's Marina?"_

 _"Ms. Taylor have her."_

 _"Okay baby, put Ms. Taylor on."_

 _"Okay."_

There was shuffling on the other end of the phone. _"It's momma."_ She heard Chanel say through the phone.

" _Hello, Angel?"_

 _"Hey, Ms. T."_

 _"Where are you, I came over to bring you and the girls breakfast but you weren't here."_

 _"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It's a long story, I had to leave town rather unexpectedly."_

 _"You okay?"_

 _"Yeah. I'm fine. Everything is fine."_ Angel lied through her teeth and took a deep breath. _"Can you just keep the girls for a while, until I get back?"_

 _"Of course baby."_

 _"Thank you, and give Marina a kiss for me."_

 _"Sure."_

 _"Can you put Chanel back on?"_

 _"Momma, when you coming home?"_

 _"Soon, baby, soon."_

 _"Te amo momma."_

 _"Te amo Chanel."_

 _Killian hung the pho_ ne up. "Thank you." Angel told him sincerely.

"You're welcome. I'm nothing if not reasonable." Killian said in response.

He then moved to speak to the guards and Angel hung her head sniffling softly and Pepper looked on in pure sympathy.

The room was deathly quiet until suddenly, a watch started beeping. Tony's eyes grew wide forgetting it was there. One of the guards watching him picked it up and began to study it. "Careful there," Tony advised once the man started shaking it. "It's a limited edition."

"Hey ponytail express," Tony spoke as the other guard stood up. "What's the millage count between Tennessee and Miami?"

"Eight hundred thirty-two miles." He spoke almost instantly, causing an impressed nod from Tony,

"Very nice." He commented.

"I'm good like that." The first guard was still messing with the watch, earning an annoyed look from the second. "Can you stop that?"

"You break it, you bought it!" Tony shouted.

The man looked Tony in the eye, dropping it and stomping on it. "I think I bought it."

"Okay," He spoke in a disapproved voice. "That wasn't mine to give away. That belonged to my friend's daughter, and that's why I'm gonna kill you first."

The two men laughed as they looked back to Tony. "What are you going to do to me?"

"You'll see." He simply spoke.

"You're zip tied to a bed."

"This!" Tony spoke with the wave of his hands, but nothing happened. They continued to stare at him, just nodding. "That!" He did it again, but nothing else happened. The guard with the long hair put his hands up in a fake surrender as Tony continued to sit there. The suit should have been there by now.

"Trust me, you're gonna be in a puddle of blood on the ground in five, four, three," Tony looked away, not wanting to look stupid again. "Come on!" He looked back to the guards. "Two!"

The guard with the buzz cut turned to the other with a sigh. "How did we get this shift?"

"Alright," Tony spoke with a slight sigh. "I'm gonna give you two a chance to escape. Put down your weapons and tie yourselves to those chairs and I'll let you live." They both sighed, completely annoyed with him. "In five, four," He flicked his wrists at them again. "Bang!"

"Wow." The one with a pony tail commented.

"You should be gone right now." Tony spoke with a shrug. "You should already be gone."

"I am just beyond terrified." The guard continued.

"Here it comes." Tony looked around nervously. "Three, four – "

"Shut up." The guard spoke with an annoyed shrug.

"Five, four, three, two, one!"

By the time he got down with quickly counting, the hand to his Iron Man suit came out and punched the guard with a pony tail in the face. It then attached to Tony's arm as he gave the other guard a winning smile. "Told ya." With that, he blasted him, causing the bed he was tied to, to fall back as well. Slowly, but surely, all of his pieces began to attach back to each other.


	6. Chapter 6

**I should be studying for mid-terms, instead I wrote this.**

 **Shout out to _Wolfy-Queen_ for their review. And to be honest, I can't wait for that meeting either.**

* * *

After escaping the Mandarin's mansion, Tony and Rhodes managed to save what was left of the passengers from Air-force One, all except the president himself who had just arrived in Miami where Pepper and Angel were still strung up, now in a warehouse.

Pepper was falling asleep, feeling completely hopeless like there was going to be no way out of this when she jumped awake again from an IV being inserted into her arm extremis reacting to the injection and Killian's smiling face in front of her. "Hi."

Pepper sighed as she shook her head at him. "If you think he's going to help you he won't."

Killian looked up at her shyly, giving her a bit of a smile, and it just angered her more while the nurse moved over to Angel. "Having you here is not just to motivate Tony Stark; it's actually more embarrassing than that." She turned her head to the side, hardly being able to believe what he was really doing with her. "You're here as my, um – "

"Trophy." She finished for him with the shake of the head.

"Sir," The nurse called just as he was about to respond. "You should come and take a look at this."

Killian sighed. "I'll be right back." He told Pepper. "What's wrong?" He asked the nurse as he made his way over to the table his was stationed at.

"It's the girls DNA." The nurse explained.

"What about it?" Killian asked, impatient.

"Well, in all of our other subject, extremis latched onto their cells, in the genetic operating system of the brain to combat the heat, keeps when from going too hot. But with her it's not just latching onto her cells, its bonding with them." The nurse explained. "She's adapting to it, changing it, she's- "

"Mutating it." Just then the Iron Patriot suit landed outside Pepper felt a bit of joy at the sight before she realized that Killian was too pleased at seeing the suit."Keep me posted on her progress." He quickly told the nurse before turning to the suit. "Good evening, sir." The suit opened and threw out President Ellis. Pepper and Angel gasped, not knowing what to do and the President obviously didn't know either Killian gave him a sarcastic salute. "Welcome aboard, Mr. President."

One of the guards pulled the president up and began leading him to a set of stairs, Killian turned to look over at Pepper before following.

Killian led them to the upper portions of their space, showing off the view they had. "You ever heard of an elephant graveyard? Well, two years ago, the elephant in the room was this ship."

The President stood there for a moment, taking it all in. "This is the Roxxon Norco."

"Of course you remember when she spilled a million gallons of crude off of Pensacola. Thanks to you, not one fat cat saw a day in court." Killian continued.

President Ellis looked back and forth at the two, not sure what to do. "What do you want from me?"

"Uh, nothing, sir." Killian spoke blandly. "I just needed a reason to kill you that would play well on TV." He spoke with a slight shrug. "You see, I've moved on. I've found myself a new political patron, and at this time tomorrow, he'll have your job String him up." Killian growled to the guard who grabbed the protesting president and dragged him away.

* * *

 **So I do have mid-terms coming up so this will be the last chapter posted for the foreseeable future.**

 **But I would always love to hear from you guys so leave a review**


	7. Chapter 7

Rhodes and Tony made their way to the secret base, climbing up the ladder and towards the part where the real action was going on. Both of them had guns in their hands as they inched forward, being careful not to be spotted by anyone. "You're not gonna freak out on me, right?"

Tony shrugged. "I hope not."

There was canned oil all around them as they jumped up to get on the upper levels, realizing it was getting even harder to go by without being seen. They finally found a large crate to hide behind, Rhodey peeking out to see what was going on.

In front of him was a man with a camera angled up, pointing at the President dressed up in the Iron Patriot suit, his head downcast, looking at his fate. "Oh my god." Rhodey hurried back behind the crate. "He's strung up over the oil tank." Tony looked up from the caboose of the line with a worried face.

"They're gonna light him up." He concluded.

"Viking funeral." Rhodey told him. "A public execution."

"Yeah, death by oil." Tony said.

"Is your gun up?" Rhodes questioned as they moved closer to where the president was.

Right after the question Tony pulled his gun up. "Yup, what do I do?"

"Stay on my six." Rhodey commanded. "Cover high. Don't shoot me in the back."

Tony immediately turned around, watching for what was behind them. "Six, high, back." He mumbled. "I got it."

They continued moving forward when a sniper suddenly shot at them from above. As they ducked for cover Tony shot at where the sniper was hitting the glass above him. "You see that?" He asked. "Nailed it."

Rhodey glanced at him. "Yeah, you really killed the glass."

"I was aiming for the bulb." He spoke obviously with the shake of the head. "You can't hit a bulb at this distance."

Rhodes raised his brow at the and easily stood up, aimed and hit the light bulb in a matter of seconds before ducking back down, giving Tony an obvious look.

"I'm out." He said ignoring what had just happened. "You got an extra magazine?"

"They're not universal," Rhodes told him.

"I know what I'm doing." He said annoyed. "I make this stuff. Give me another one."

"I don't have one that fits that gun."

Tony sighed. "Alright, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna spot."

He got up quickly, turning his torso around and immediately came right back down. "What did you see?" Rhodes questioned.

"Too fast." Tony reported. "Nothing. Alright." He spoke, sitting up again, actually watching this time before ducking back down. "Three guys, one girl, all armed."

Rhodes sighed. "I would kill for some armour right now." Rhodey cursed.

"Yeah." Tony agreed. "We need backup."

"A bunch."

"You know what…" Tony trailed off, looking to the sky with a slight smile.

Rhodes looked in the direction he was staring in, seeing something that looked like a very bright star, but it was just too close to be a star. Then, it broke into two, that's when it clicked."Is that…" Rhodes questioned then trailed off.

"Yup." Tony spoke, smiling like a proud parent.

"Are those?"

"Yeah. Merry Christmas buddy." Tony said patting Rhodes' shoulder. "Jarvis target Extremis heat signatures, disable with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, sir." All the suits answered at once.

"What are we waiting for?" Tony asked rhetorically. "It's Christmas." With one hand movement, all the suits were waiting on his command. "Take 'em to church."

All the suits sprang into action, taking on the Extremis fighters as the group watched, occasionally ducking from spare parts flying all around. The seemed to be winning for a while, but these people were just too strong, ripping the suits apart and one actually hitting the ground in an explosion, making Tony and Rhodes, grip onto the railing to keep from falling.

"Jarvis," Tony commanded. "Get Igor to settle this thing."

"So, this is how you're managing your downtime?" Rhodey chuckled out.

"Everyone needs a hobby." He retorted almost instantly.

One of the suits lost its face mask and visual, sending it into the tanks of gas, sending off multiple explosions, one in the direction of the room Pepper and Angel were being held in and where Killian was.

A suit landed right next to them, Tony immediately standing up and going to it. "Perfect timing."

"That's awesome." Rhodey spoke, spreading his arms out, ready to have the same thing as him. "Give me a suit."

Tony's face dropped as he looked to his best friend, knowing he was going to enjoy this one. "Oh, I'm sorry. They're only coded to me."

"Wait," Rhodey spoke, his arms still up in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"I got you covered." Tony responded then took off.

Right after he left another suit landed. "Good evening Colonel, can I give you a lift?" Jarvis' voice came through making Rhodey roll his eyes.

"Very funny."

* * *

Tony flew around in his suit, helping all of the other suits that needed it, but his main goal was getting his girls out of there safe. "Sir," Jarvis spoke, gaining Tony's attention. "I've located Miss. Potts and Miss Salazar."

"About time." He responded before following Jarvis' direction and heading to where they were. Tony landed in the destroyed room and saw Pepper lying unconscious under a bunch of debris. He began to move the rubble around to get to her, scaring her instantly, thinking it was Killian. "Stop!" She saw the Iron Man suit, letting a relieved breath come out. "Put it down." She commanded.

He did as she said, leaning down to be at her level and opening to suits face so he could see her and the immediate relief that crossed his face. "Where's Angel?"

Pepper looked and was the girl stirring just next to her. "She's here."

"See what happens when you hang out with my ex-girlfriends." He spoke with a bit of the shrug.

Pepper shut her eyes, slightly relieved he was joking around with her so quickly. "You're such a jerk."

"Yeah." Tony spoke, moving his hand out so she could grab onto it. "We'll talk about it over dinner." She let out a little laugh as she moved her hand towards him. "Come on." He encouraged, just wanting to get her out of there and someplace safe. "A little more, baby."

As soon as they had got to finger tips touching and Tony almost pulling her out, Killian's hand crashed out, grabbing at the front of the suit and throwing Tony away from her. He pushed himself out of the under part of the rubble, immediately looking to Pepper. "Is this guy bothering you?" Pepper only let out a frustrated sigh.

Killian immediately climbed on top of Tony, putting one finger to his chest plate, Extremis working instantly. "Is it hot in there?" He taunted with a big smile. "Stuck?" He asked mockingly. "Feeling stuck?" Tony rolled his eyes. "Feel like a little turtle? Cooking in his little turtle suit?"

"Tony." Pepper whispered.

"They're watching." Killian whispered to him. "I think you should close your eyes." Tony looked back and forth from Killian to Pepper. "Close your eyes, you don't want to see this."

Killian's hand went down, but a blade came out of Tony's suit, taking his arm off instantly. Yeah it would grow back, but it still hurt like hell, causing him to fall over, gripping what was left of his arm. "Yeah, you take a minute."

His arm began to burn a hole, sending Pepper and Angel down another story and onto a moving conveyer belt. Tony immediately threw his suit off and began chasing her down, killing any of the Extremis followers long the way switching suits to fly over there, doing anything possible to get them.

* * *

Rhodey ran, finally making it to one of the railings looking over the President. "Mr. President!" He called, catching Ellis's attention immediately. "Just hold on, alright! I'm coming." He said looking around for a way to get down to him when two of the Extremis followers dropped down near him.

He took off running and began to slide down one of the electrical wires, sending him on one of the crates.

The Extremis followed, and Rhodes pulled, shooting them as quickly as possible, but it didn't do anything. One of them swung at him but he ducked and instead hit the wire causing the crate to go uneven and Rhodes fell over the edge but managed to hang on. He stared at them for a moment when a smile grew on his lips. "Bye, bye." He spoke before shooting the wire keeping the crate up right, sending them falling off the edge completely and Rhodey on his way to the President.

The wire took him right to the President and he hung on to the suit as the crate dropped and exploded. "Brace yourself!" Rhodey told the President before making the suit blast the wire off and the three were flying onto the safest platform.

Rhodes dropped when he was able to and shot at the remaining wire and the President landed safely on top of another crate. "You look damn good, Mr. President." Rhodey commented, causing him to smile. "But I'm gonna need that suit back."

* * *

Tony continued to run, making a risky jump, finally getting on the conveyer belt that had his girls on it. "The President is secure." Rhodey spoke through Tony's earpiece. "I'm clearing the area."

"Nice work." Tony spoke instantly.

Finally he was right in front of them, the only thing keeping them from falling was the pole that Angel had a death grip on, she and Pepper gripping tightly onto one another. "Pepper!" Tony called, his voice tinged with urgency. "I got you. Relax. I got you." She was letting out scared breaths, as she reached out for him, the thing just threatening to fall. "Angel," he shouted gaining her attention as well. "Sweetheart, I can't reach any further and you guys can't stay there, alright?" She gave him a worried look. "You gotta let go." They both cried out as the thing dropped a bit. "You gotta let go. I'll catch you. I promise."

Angel nodded and began to let go of the pole when the thing snapped when Pepper was just inches from Tony and they both fell down into the fire below, screaming to whole way down, the sound shattering Tony's heart.

"What a shame?" Killian commented, looking down at the fire below him Tony turning now furious eyes on him. "I would have caught them."

* * *

Pain wasn't a concept that was too foreign to Angel, hell she _had_ been through childbirth. Twice. So shouldn't falling near 200 feet to ones supposed death, hurt?

At the very least it should feel a bit more like excruciating pain and less like she had only gotten the wind knocked out of her. The flames were dancing all around her but not burning, it more felt like they were a part of her.

Groaning she rolled over seeing Pepper in much the same position as her, out of breath, but alive.

"You okay?" She asked the older woman getting a nod in response.

"No more false faces." They hear a strained voice say and looked over to see a charred Killian approaching Tony who was struggling to crawl away having injured his leg apparently.

"Enough of this guy." Angel muttered and stood grabbing a nearby pipe and approaching the pair.

"I am the mandarin!" Killian exclaimed holding his arms out wide before Angel swings with the pipe knocking him off his feet.

"He talks way too much." She explained to Tony with a shrug who still sat in disbelief at the two women before him.

"I got nothing." Tony responded when the sound of a suit approaching grabbed all of their attention. "Jarvis subjects at my 12 o'clock are not targets, disengage." Tony shouted desperately seemingly into his earpiece but a glance around showed that it had fallen from his ear.

As the suit fired Pepper pushed Angel out of the way and easily took down the suit and then Killian all on her own.

Angel gave the two a moment to themselves, clearly the suits blowing up was important to their relationship but she did have to get home.

"Hi," She said loudly getting their attention and pulling them from their embrace. "Don't mean to bother you guys, but it is Christmas and I do have a couple of kids to get home to. And I'd like to get there before Santa Clause does." When they stared blankly she hastily said. "I interrupted- the thing. You guys- yup. I'm sorry. I'm gonna'-" She turned her back to give them privacy and covered her eyes. "Be right here. Let me know when you're ready."

She heard them both laugh before a hand was placed on her shoulder. "Let's get you home kid."

* * *

 **This is gonna be the last update for a while, finals are coming up and the Holidays. So much will be happening.**

 **But please let me know what you think, your comments are my motivation.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Seasons Greetings/Happy Holidays/Happy New Years to all.**

* * *

Weeks later, things had mostly gone back to normal, for everyone around her. The news and media covered the death of the Mandarin and their accomplices, including the former Vice President of the United States, as well as exposing the actor, Trevor Slattery, who was used as the Mandarin's poster boy.

But considering what the world has been through in the last few years, this was relatively tame and was handled swiftly.

But things for Angel herself were not as calm. The first few days after she got back to Rosehill she had just thought she was running an abnormally high fever. But it wasn't constant, her body temperature would skyrocket before calming to a more normal state before going up again.

It wasn't that she felt physically sick, in fact she had felt healthier in the past few weeks than she had in most of her life. It was on New Year's Eve when things got really weird.

* * *

 _"Momma, I wanna watch the fireworks." Angel was in the kitchen making dinner with little Marina in her arms and Chanel shadowing her._

 _"Chanel," Angel said for what felt like the thousandth time. "Your bedtime is way before the fireworks babe."_

 _"Please momma, please? Just a little while longer." Much like her mother and grandmother before Chanel lapse into Spanish when she really wanted something. "Por favor, mami por favor. Realmente quiero ver."_

 _"Chanel," Angel said using the 'mom' voice. "I said no, you're too young to be staying up that late." Chanel pouted but gave up. "Now here" she said handing her little Marina. "Take your sister into the living room and let me finish cooking, okay?"_

 _"Okay." Chanel said still pouting but doing as instructed._

 _Angel sighed now alone in the kitchen and turned back to the pots and pans on the stovetop. Grabbing a pot from the stove she moved over to the sink to drain the pasta, placing the pot onto a mat she moved back to the stove to turn down the open flame but stop short for reasons that she couldn't possibly explain._

 _As she reached out to turn the knob she paused to just stare at the flame and with the same hand she had outstretched reached forward to run just the tips of her fingers through it and felt nothing but a tickle across her fingertips. Angel pulled her hand back and it seemed that those same tips of her fingers were now on fire, quickly she shook them out and turned off the stove._

 _"That didn't just happen." She mumbled to herself as she went back to the sink and began draining the pasta. "That did not just happen."_

* * *

 _'That' unfortunately did happen Angel thought to herself as she sat out in her workshop staring out the window as the fireworks lit up the night sky. Chanel and Marina had long since been put to bed, Chanel despite all her begging never stood a chance at watching the fireworks as she passed out during her first bedtime story sometime around 9:00._

 _And so as per a usual Angel spent New Year's alone and made promises to the new year to her daughters._

 _But even still, something keep nagging at the back of her mind. Giving in she moved from the window to the desk set up in the middle of the shop and grabbed a lighter._

 _Flicking the flame to life she stared at it for a moment before releasing it. Doing this a few more times to quell building anxiety finally Angel sighed and flicked the flame and holding it there for a beat. She then brought her other hand up and held it just above the flame before backing out and extinguishing it from the lighter._

 _However the small flame stayed and danced around her palm._

 _"No fricking way."_

 _That small experiment being a success confirmed Angel's thoughts. Extremis had indeed changed her. She kept up with her little experiments at night and found that she could control the fire and grow it as large as she wanted so long as it came from another source. Her experiments had so far been only in her workshop and she had, had no reason to use her new found abilities outside of it, yet._

* * *

Waiting by the bus stop that afternoon after her shift at the hospital, Angel was confronted by her ex-boyfriend, Damien.

"C'mon G-"

"Don't call me G." Angel snapped.

"Fine, Angel, what's a guy gotta do?" Damien fake pleaded taking a drag of the cigarette between his fingers.

"How about you take a long walk off a short pier?"

Damien shook his hand and looked down before taking another drag. "C'mon girl, why you gotta be like that?" He said taking a step closer.

"D, back off!" Angel said taking a step back.

"Just dinner, then maybe some dessert?" He asked with a bounce of his eyebrow.

Angel scoffed before bringing her hand up and slapping him hard across the face. Damien stumble before turning back with a hard glare and made to move towards her before his friend that he had come with cut him off and pushed him back.

"Yeah that's real cute D, you haven't changed a bit."

"You saying I need to." He said taking another drag and blowing the smoke in her direction with a smirk.

Angel's eyes narrowed then focused on the cigarette, particularly the burning filter at the end of it. Her fingers twitched and the filter caught fire on itself and the flame latched onto a part of Damien's jacket sleeve forcing him to take a few hurried steps back and shake out his arm to extinguish it and no sooner had Angel's bus arrived.

As she climbed on Damien's friend, Ritchie if she remembered correctly, gave her an apologetic look at his friend's behaviour, which Angel acknowledged with a nod.

And that was just the beginning of what was shaping up to be a strange evening.

* * *

After getting home and changing out of her nurse's scrubs into a more comfortable pair of leggings and sweater Angel went out to join Miss Taylor and her kids for the evening, at least that was her plan.

After smothering both her kids in kisses Miss Taylor told her the last thing she ever expected to hear.

"By the way baby," Miss Taylor said bouncing little Marina in her lap. "Some _very_ nice delivery men dropped somethings off for you in the garage. I signed it for you." By the way she said 'very' Angel knew that Miss Taylor had no clue what she'd allowed to be placed in Angel's workshop, she was more focused on the delivery men.

"Really? I wasn't expecting a package." Angel said standing from the couch. "I'm gonna' go see what it is."

"Alright baby, take your time."

Thinking that it was probably a part for the car she'd been working on and had ordered since before Christmas, Angel opened the door to her workshop and was surprised to find that it was not a car part, instead her entire workshop had been upgraded.

Her jaw dropping at the amount of things crammed into her little garage/workshop. Tools and chemistry sets that she could only dream of owning, all shiny and new lined the walls, the corvette she'd been working on still sat untouched in the back but on an all new platform. And next to it was a bright orange machine with a metal claw that was waving at her. She waved back still staring in disbelief.

In the middle of the room on her desk was a remodeled potato gun and a note next to it.

'Potato Gun Mark II'  
'Your Pal, The Mechanic'  
'P.S. Turn Around'

Furrowing her brow as she read the note Angel turned and saw Tony Stark leaning nonchalantly in the doorway of her workshop. Despite knowing that all this only could have been him she was still shocked to see him there.

"Hey kid." He said pushing himself off the doorway and stepping in.

"Hey?" Angel breathed out before moving closer and wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

He grunted at the movement before bringing his hands up and resting them on her back. "Alright, hey."

"Sorry," Angel said bashful, releasing him. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. I wasn't expecting any of this."

"Kinda the point of a surprise right?" Tony asked in typical Tony fashion as he took a seat at the desk.

"Right." Angel nodded. "What are you doing back in Tennessee?"

"What's the matter kid, thought I'd come to visit you? With us being connected and all."

Angel breathed a laugh before noticing a distinct lack of glow beneath Tony's band T-shirt. "Where's your reactor?"

Tony glanced down before picking up a lighter and fiddling with it. "I, uh, had it removed. Shrapnel too. You know, all that New Year, New Me BS."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Not great."

"So, um this is," Angel said changing the topic and looking around her workshop at all the new things, which was pretty much everything, searching for the right adjective. "A lot." Is what she pathetically came up with.

"Yeah well, I own you one for letting me crash here."

"This is a bit more than one."

"And also to check on you, make sure you were okay with, you know." Tony said awkwardly.

"Ohh, so that's why you're here."

"Well I mean, I got Pepper all sorting out, she says hi by the way, so I figured you'd want the same thing."

"I thought I did too."

"Something change."

"Yeah," she said glancing back at him and the lighter in his hand. "I did."

"What'd you mean?"

"When I came home thing were different, I was. I started noticing things, I was always so hot, it's 52 degrees here there's absolutely no reason for my body temperature to be running as high as it was. That's when I started changing."

"How?" Tony questioned.

Angel looked at him then nodded to the lighter in his hand, he took the hint and flicked it to life, Angel held out her hand and drew the flame into her palm where it grew into a ball, while Tony watched on fascinated.

"At first I could only manipulate the fire, control it, I couldn't create it."

"And now?" Tony questioned still watching in disbelief.

"Things are different." She said extinguishing the flame by closing her hand.

Tony was about to say more but was interrupted by the door opening.

"Alright Angel baby I done put the baby to sleep and Chanel is in there colouring. So I'm gone head on home and feed that thang' before he get all-" Miss Taylor said as she opened the door pushing a flask into her pocket but stopped short at the sight of Tony, at which point she made her best attempted to lean seductively up against the doorframe but failed miserably. "Well who is this pretty fine specimen of a man right here?"

"Oh God." Angel muttered and Miss Taylor came closer eyeing Tony up and down. "Miss T, this is my friend Tony. Tony this is Miss Taylor, she's my neighbour and she takes care of the girls when I'm at work."

"It's nice to meet you." Tony said politely shaking her hand.

"Ohh. You talk so nice and educated. Angel where you been hiding this nice drink of water?"

"Miss T," Angel said grabbing her hand to stop her from attempting to stroke Tony's face. "Tony lives in New York. He's a scientist."

"Oh you a scientist? That's good, cuz' now I got my _ion_ you." She burst out laughing at her own joke while Angel cringed but Tony cracked a smile.

"Miss Taylor," Angel said leading her towards the door. "You were leaving."

"Oh, that's right baby. I'll come back tomorrow when you done gone off to work over at that hospital."

"Okay, I appreciate it. Get home safely."

"Oh but Tony," She said turning back. "If you ever need anything, I'm just a whisper away." She emphasized the 'whisper' then was gone. "Oh he just so fine, he look like a piece white chocolate."

"She takes great care of my girls," Angel tried to amend her neighbour behaviour but Tony just looked amused. "But she drinks."

"I heard that!" Miss Taylor's voice was heard in the distance.

"And she has ears like a dog."

"Yo' momma!"

"Miss Taylor go home!" Angel snapped. "So, uh. You wanna meet my kids?"

"Not really." Tony responded instantly.

"Great! Follow me."

Angel turned and left not bothering for a response, knowing that Tony was going follow regardless, therefore she missed the little smile that crossed Tony's face.

* * *

 **Your reviews are my motivation.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Quick note, I have very little, basically zero medical knowledge so most of what happens in the hospital in this chapter is pure guess work. And medical terms that I've heard before sprinkled in ('Salt Bae' style).**

 **Shout-out to** _ **Wolfy-Queen**_ **and _NicoleR85_ for their reviews on the last chapter.**

 **And to _Laura (Guest)_ I hope this chapter clears up any confusion caused, when I have more time I'll go back and fix any mistakes in the other chapters. Also we'll find out in detail what happened to the rest of Angel's family in future chapters.**

* * *

As soon as Angel walked into her house, Chanel, who was on the couch colouring immediately perked up and all but pounced on Tony, bombarding him with questions.

Angel left Tony with a mouthed 'Have fun', and went into the kitchen to cook dinner.

While she was cooking she heard the entire mostly one-sided conversation, and could only laugh at the completely innocent questions being fired at the billionaire.

 _"What's your name?"_

 _"How do you know my momma?"_

 _"Are you my momma's friend?"_

 _"Why does the hair on your face look like that?"_

 _"Where do you live?"_

 _"How old are you?"_

Angel in the kitchen could only laugh, and if she knew her daughter she didn't break rhythm in her colouring, the pretty princess on the page would be finished long before the interrogation was. Tony to his credit, kept with the questions quite well. Answering them with the utmost seriousness, not the patronizing tone must people took on when dealing with little children.

He seemed to be getting on quite well with Chanel, and Angel was almost done with dinner, when the sounds of Marina waking from her catnap reached her.

 _"Shit."_ She cursed to herself, "Tony can you grab her please I'll be out in a minute."

"Uhh." Tony actually sounded unsure for once. "Sure."

 _"That's not how you're supposed to hold her."_ Angel heard Chanel reprimand and couldn't help but laugh.

 _"Well how do you do it?"_ Tony snapped back, but not harshly.

Angel decided at that moment to move back to the living room. Despite the mini argument going on, Marina couldn't careless, especially of the fact that the billionaire held her out at a distance, nearly arm's length but not quite, and was currently playing with the unique facial hair that adorned Tony's face, also trying her very best to eat it.

"Hey! Watch the hair pampers." Tony warned, to which Marina responded with a _'Boo-wah'_ and went for his hair anyway.

"Chanel's right," Angel said taking a seat on the couch next to Tony, "That's not how you hold her."

"Told ya." Chanel pipped up.

"She's so wiggly." Tony defended trying to adjust his grip on said wiggling baby as she tried to dive out of his arm's to get to her mother.

"Yeah, that's what they do." Angel said taking her child from Tony's arms and putting her pacifier in her mouth. "Don't worry I've had years of practice."

"Momma, is the food ready yet?" Chanel questioned.

"In a few minutes babe." Angel responded then turned to Tony, "So?"

"So?" He responded confused.

"You really expect me to believe you came all the way back to Tennessee to trick out my garage? And you stayed? Something's up." Angel told him as Marina wiggled out of her arms and climbed to the floor to play with her big sister.

"Alright look kid," Tony said turning to face her. "I like you alright? You helped me out when I was in a tough spot, even though it messed you up in the process. But uh, hanging out with you was fun and I wanted to know if you wanted to make this a more permanent thing?" At this Angel raised a brow. "I'm offering you a job."

"What?"

"Stark Industries, full sail. You'd be working directly with me and my colleague Dr. Banner – you know, the Hulk."

"Stark Industries?"

"Mhm."

"In New York?"

"Yep."

"With you?"

"That's what I said."

Angel got up and grabbed Marina from where she had crawled quite a distance down the hallway. Marina squealed thinking it was a game.

"Are you staying for dinner?"

* * *

"Angel," Tony began, after dinner and her kids had been put to bed but Angel cut him off.

"I can't move to New York."

"Why not?"

"It's not just me Tony, Chanel is starting school, and Marina's just a baby."

"New York has some of the best schools."

"Working at Stark Industries has been my dream since I was a little girl. I gave that up when Chanel was born, I don't regret it."

"Okay, look," Tony sighed. "I didn't wanna tell you this. I need to keep an eye on you. You're gifted, you're enhanced, people will be looking for you."

"I wasn't planning on announcing it."

"Doesn't matter, someone, someway will find out. And I can't protect you and your kids if you're all the way out here in Tennessee."

"I can't take care of myself."

"Maybe you don't have to anymore."

Angel shook her head. "I'm sorry Tony."

"It's alright." Tony sighed then took something out of his pocket. "Here."

"What's this?" Angel asked looking at the thin plane of glass that was handed to her.

"StarkPhone, extremely limited edition." He said standing from the couch. "Keep in touch kid."

"Wait," she said following him to the door. "You're leaving?"

"I've got a business to run." Tony opened the door but seemed to remember something. "Oh and by the way, try and keep yourself out of trouble. Don't go looking for other people like you or anything like that. You might not like what you find."

"I don't promise that." Angel told him honestly.

"I figured."

Angel hugged him again and he responded a little less award but still not entirely comfortable with the contact.

"Thank you Tony."

"Anytime kid. And whenever you're ready, the spot is yours." Tony said to which Angel nodded and closed the front door behind him as he left.

* * *

The next morning Angel got up at the sound of her alarm and quietly got herself breakfast and started getting ready for her shift at the hospital.

Angel went into her kid's room to give them both kisses before she left, Marina didn't budge however Chanel stirred for a moment before cracking open her bright brown eyes.

"Momma?" She called sleepily making Angel stop in her tracks and move back to her bed.

"Yeah babe?" Angel questioned crouching down.

"Did Mister Stark leave?"

"Yeah, babe. He had to go back to work." Angel explained softly to the half-asleep child.

"Is he gonna come back?"

"I don't know."

"I like him momma."

"I know sweetie, go back to sleep." Chanel sleepily nodded before closing her eyes and drifting off. Angel shook her head and gave her daughter another kiss on the forehead before leaving.

* * *

"Morning." Cora, a fellow nurse greeted Angel as they both checked into their respective shifts that morning.

"Morning Cora." Angel responded.

"Heard you had a visitor last night."

"Jesus, this town is way too small." Angel groaned.

"Calm down that's all that got around."

"Good, I plan on keeping it that way." Angel said grabbing her patient's charts and leaving the nurse's station.

Her first patient was and elderly man, Harold Reed, in and out of the Intensive Care Unit, who had been checked into the hospital on New Year's Eve due to kidney failure. His family frequented the hospital nearly as much as the staff, as the kidney failure had caused a downward spiral in the condition of his health.

"Morning guys." Angel greeted his wife and grand-daughter.

"Good morning nurse." His wife responded politely.

"How are we today?" Angel questioned.

"The same as always." Mrs. Reed responded honestly. "He was having trouble breathing last night."

Angel nodded jotting that down on the chart before placing her stethoscope in her ears. "Okay, let's see what's going on." Angel moved the scope around his chest and over his lungs before deducing what the problem was. "Sounds like he's got some fluid in his chest, most likely as a result of the dialysis." Angel made a few more notes before turning to the family. "I'm gonna' go grab Doctor Ambrose, but more than likely we're gonna' have to insert a tube to remove the fluid, then another to help him breathe."

"Thank you nurse."

Angel nodded. "You guys hang tight."

* * *

"Dr. Ambrose," Angel called. Running up behind the man in question.

"Nurse Salazar." He nodded in greeting.

"It's Mr. Reed."

"Oh boy."

"Yeah," Angel sighed handing him the charts. "It's his lungs."

Dr. Ambrose sighed as well, looking over the charts himself. "His organs are failing." He deduced.

"Yeah." Angel nodded then pulled out her phone as a text message came through.

Ms. Taylor _\- Meet us at the diner for lunch_

"New phone." Dr. Ambrose nodded to the locked phone that now resembled a thin sheet of glass.

"Yep."

"Do I wanna' know?"

"Probably not."

"How soon can we get the tube in Mr. Reed?" Dr. Ambrose questioned.

"I have other patients to go and see."

"Alright, send a team to meet me on the third floor. I'll get that started."

"Yes sir."

* * *

By the time her lunch break came about Angel had dealt with three burn victims, a sprained wrist and a bad case of the chicken pox that resulted in unpleasant memories of her child going through the same thing.

Angel got to the diner to find Ms. Taylor sat at a booth with Chanel beside her and Marina sleeping in her carrier on the top of the table.

"Rough day?" Ms. Taylor questioned as Angel threw herself down into the booth.

"No more than usual." Angel responded. "Hi baby." She greeted her daughter then gave the waitress her order of a turkey sandwich.

"Oh so," Ms. Taylor glanced around, "A rough night?" She questioned cheekily.

"No!" Angel responded incredulously, making Ms. Taylor laugh loudly.

"I'm just messing with you baby. Lighten up sometimes." Angel scoffed turned to help Chanel in colouring. "What did that fine man what from you anyway?"

Angel gave her a look which she ignored. "He uh," she hesitated but figured if there was anyone she could tell it would be Ms. Taylor. "He offered me a job."

"Well that's great baby." Ms. Taylor gasped.

"Yeah it is. I'd have been working with him, and another one of my all-time idols."

"Well when do you start?"

Angel shook her head. "I didn't take it."

"Why not?"

"He offered me a position at Stark Industries, in New York City." Angel elaborated. "I couldn't accept."

"Momma where's New York City?" Chanel questioned.

"It's really, really far away babe."

"That's where Mister Stark lives." Chanel said absently as their food was brought out and Angel took her crayons from her so she could eat her grilled cheese.

"So explain this to me so that I could understand, you said no?" Angel nodded. "Why?"

"I can't move to New York." Angel said simply.

"Angel I've known you for a long time, and I'm gonna' tell you something that you may not want to hear. You don't have the good sense God gave a billy goat."

Angel laughed. "Ms. T-"

Angel was cut off. "No!" Ms. Taylor snapped. "Cuz' I know what you're thinking and I know what you're gonna' say. And I'm gonna' tell you right now, it does not make you a bad person for wanting to put yourself first for once. For as long as I've known you, all you wanted to be was an engineer or a mechanic."

"Yeah it was a nice a nice dream when I moved here. But now," Angel ran her hand through Chanel's curls. "That's all it s, a dream."

"Angel, yo' momma' did not leave this earth wanting you to be unhappy."

"I am happy."

"I know you are baby. But ever since you had these here children, you've let yourself forget what you used to be so passionate about."

"Even if I wanted to, I can't afford it. Not for me and them. And leaving them behind is not an option." Angel said in a tone of finality. Ms. Taylor sighed and went to the counter to order a cup of tea.

"Ms. Salazar." A snotty voice came from the end of the booth.

"Hello Mrs. Wess." Angel greeted the women. Mrs. Wess was a woman in her early 50's who was amongst a few of the more fortunate people living in Rosehill, her husband was a surgeon at the hospital _very_ prestigious and Mrs. Wess owned a few of the local businesses.

"Are you busy this evening?"

"No more than usual."

"Good." She said dropping her satchel onto the table. "My laptop computer seems to be seizing up constantly. I need it fixed by tomorrow morning. If you'd be so kind?" she added sarcastically.

"Of course ma'am." Angel said through gritted teeth.

"Good, I'll come by tomorrow morning to pick it up."

"I hate that woman." Angel told Ms. Taylor when she came back.

"What did the wicked witch want?"

"Her laptops broken, again."

"I don't know why you let her treat you that way. Swear, if I was you I wouldn't take that. I'd have been, snatch that heffa' up by her weave and swing her-" Ms. Taylor began to demonstrate but stopped short at the sight of Mrs. Wess stepping back into the diner. "Oh, Lord God from Zion." She said quickly throwing herself down into the booth.

"Eight a.m. Ms. Salazar." Mrs. Wess said before leaving for good.

* * *

 **In the next chapter we get to see Angel play with some of her new toys.**

 **Do you guys think Angel will keep her 'kind of' promise to Tony and not go snooping around for other enhanced?**

 **Let me know.**

 **Reviews are my motivation.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Finally the next chapter is up.**

 **I appreciate all the reviews on the last chapter.**

 **Shout out to** ** _NicoleR85, Olivia0707, Howling2themoon,_ and the two Guest Reviewers.**

 **Also the name for Angel's UI, 'YINSIN' came from a fic that I've read before but I don't remember where or the name, so if anyone knows please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.**

* * *

"Alright baby, you guys are coming into the garage with momma to-do some work, so you gotta pick what book you wanna practice reading with okay?" Angel spoke to Chanel that night once they arrived home.

Chanel hummed while going through her trunk of toys and books, while Angel got Marina cleaned up from her soiled diaper.

"Can we do animals?"

"Animals? When did you get an animals book?"

"Miss Taylor gave it to me." Chanel said digging out said book.

"You like it?" She said picking up Marina placing her on her hip, her fist immediately curling into the front of her shirt.

"Mhm. We was leaning about animals in school." Chanel said following her mother from the room.

"Yeah? What was your favourite?"

"I liked the giraffes."

"Really?" Angel questioned as they arrived in the garage and Chanel began to get settled in the play area that was set-up in there that had not gotten destroyed in Tony's redecoration. "So how about we play a game?" Chanel's eyes lit up even as Angel set Marina down inside her playpen that had various toys scattered about. "You have to find an animal for ever letter and spell it, and if you do all of them I'll read you any story you want. How's that sound?"

"Good."

"Good," Chanel nodded. "Alright let's shake on it," and they did. "Now get to work." Angel stood with a sigh and moved over to her workbench. "And I mean both of us."

Hunkering down she got to work she powered up Mrs. Wess' computer and figured out what the problem was shortly thereafter when the screen blacked out before making a strange noise and freezing completely. Angel forced a shut down and flipped the computer over so she could access the back panel.

" _Anteater. A-N-T-E-A-T-E-R. Anteater."_

Taking a small screwdriver she unscrewed the back panels to get to the inner workings of the computer, Chanel's spelling along with Marina's nonsense babbling, obvious reading along with her big sister, becoming calming background noise.

"Momma?" Chanel asked hesitant.

"Sound it out baby." Angel said after glancing up and seeing her little face scrunched in confusion.

 _"Hip-po-pot-am-us. H-I-P-P-O-P-O-T-A-M-U-S. Hippopotamus."_

"Good girl." Angel praised listening to her continue.

Rewiring the motherboard and connecting wires should fix the problem that Mrs. Wess was experiencing with the laptop but it would really be in her best interest to just get a new computer.

 _"Seahorse. S-E-A-H-O-R-S-E. Seahorse._ Momma I'm tired." Chanel said.

"Me too." Angel said packing up her tools and putting the laptop back into its bag. "You ready for bed."

"Yes." Chanel answered as Angel went over and picked up Marina who was fighting sleep with a vengeance. "You still gonna' read me a story?"

"Yeah babe."

Chanel trudged to her bed but was very adamant about being read to tonight as she once again dug through her trunk and came back with the Little Mermaid book, no surprise. Ariel was her favourite Disney princess.

A few pages in Marina, who was nestled comfortably in her mother's arms began squirming a bit and loosening her grip on the bottle in her hands, but for righting herself and continuing to nurse the bottle, determined to her every last drop. This made Angel realize that it was a good thing that both of her children had weaned themselves of breastfeeding rather early, because as far as she knew, with her new abilities she wasn't even producing milk anymore.

Luckily Marina seemed quite content with her bottle, especially when she gave into the pull of sleep and it rolled out of her hand.

Chanel followed suit, somewhere around the middle of the book, sliding down the bed until she was comfortably nestled under the covers.

Carefully removing herself from the bed Angel placed Marina in her crib before kissing Chanel on her forehead and leaving the room.

Angel locked up the garage and the rest of the house as quietly as she could before showering and getting into bed herself, falling asleep almost instantly.

Only to be woken what felt like minutes later, but in reality it was several hours, by the poking of her forehead.

Peeling open her bleary eyes she saw Chanel standing by the edge of the bed.

"What's the matter baby?" Chanel just stood there wringing her night dress with one hand sucking on the thumb of her other. "Wet?" she shook her head 'no'. "Bad dream?" she nodded and Angel sighed quietly before moving over in her bed and pulling back her covers. " _Venga."_ Without a moment's hesitation Chanel climbed up in the bed and wasted no time in snuggling into her mother's chest.

Wrapping her arms around her and pressing a kiss to her hair, Angel listen and felt Chanel's breathing even out and hers followed suit.

* * *

The feeling of a completely dead arm from having her child's weight against it for an entire night is a feeling that Angel had quickly gotten used to in the last five years, and normally there was an easy and painless escape.

But couple her numb limb with the sounds of her second child crying from her room, made things a little more difficult.

As carefully as she could manage, Angel rolled Chanel off of her arm until she could wiggle herself free and make her escape to the other bedroom.

It was there she found Marina standing up in her crib, her face red and scrunched up with the force of her crying, no doubt from having woken up in a room by herself and without her big sister. But as she saw Angel she started to calm and reached out her arms to her mother.

Angel picked her up and rubbed a soothing hand up and down her back and over her hair as her sobs began to taper off into hiccups.

 _"Está bien cariña, mamá está aquí. Estoy aquí, cariña. Estoy aquí siempre."_ Angel whispered to her. (It's okay sweetheart, mommy's here. I'm right here baby. I'm here always.)

Marina quieted down sucking and gumming on her fist as she started to doze off again.

Angel took her back into her bedroom where Chanel was still happily snoozing away and didn't stir when she crawled back into bed with Marina on her chest. Thank goodness it was Sunday and her say off, Angel thought as she drifted off once again.

* * *

Waking for the second and final time to the sounds of the television from the living room, Angel sat up and glanced around and noted that she was alone in bed.

Checking the time on her phone and seeing that it was just past nine, Angel climbed out of bed and went into the living room where Chanel was on the floor in front of the TV eating cereal and in the kitchen Marina was in her high chair being fed by Miss Taylor.

"Just let yourself right in why don't you?" Angel said sarcastically by way of greeting as she began to make herself a cup of coffee.

"You know it baby." Miss Taylor shot back instantly.

"What're you doing here? I told you I didn't have to work today." Angel questioned.

"I came to bring your mail." She nodded to the stack that was on the table. "And Chanel was up, so I got her some food to let you sleep for a little while longer.

"We've been living here over six years, you'd think they'd soon get this right." Angel said as she began rifling through the mail. Bills, bills, and more bills. A knock at the door interrupted whatever Mrs. Taylor was about to say next. "That'll be Mrs. Wess." Miss Taylor made a disgusted sound. "Be nice." Angel warned as she went to open the door. "You're late." Angel told her.

"I know," Mrs. Wess said while letting herself in. "I do apologize, but something came up at work and I was on a conference call since seven this morning. Anyways, where is my computer."

"Right here." Angel said handing her the bag.

"Thank you, how much to I owe you? I need to get going, I need to get signed and send out a few forms that Andrew wants in London by tonight."

Never one to pass up an opportunity to take a jab at the woman, Miss Taylor choose that moment to emerge from the kitchen with a broom in her hand. "Well here hop on, with the time difference you'll just make it." She said offering her the broom.

Mrs. Wess glared at the older woman while Angel tried but failed to hold back her laugh.

"That'll be $80, Mrs. Wess. But I do suggest just buying a new computer."

"I'll take that into consideration." She said handing her the money. "But until then, I'm off." She said as she left, at which point Angel and Mrs. Taylor burst into laughter.

"That was being the exact opposite of nice." Angel reprimanded.

"C'mon baby, she pitched it perfectly. I had to swing." She defended as she moved back to the kitchen. "But it was a good one right?" she added cheekily holding up her hand for her high-five.

"Yeah, it was." Angel relented, high-fiving her.

* * *

"You know I'm starting to understand your name." Angel told the robot the bright orange, DJ or Dum-E Junior, as the computers had informed her.

She'd spent most of her day with her kids, and now they were next door at Miss Taylor's house for while, and Angel took the opportunity to familiarize herself with the new equipment in her garage. Mostly everything that was installed was voice operated, which was quite different for her.

"DJ," Angel said patiently. "You're holding the light to close." She told the robot from beneath the hood of the corvette and the arm retracted a few inches. "Better." Angel praised.

Tightening a few bolts on the engine Angel straightened and placed her hands on her hips staring down at it. "Thank you DJ." The robot responded by a twist of its metal claw. "YINSIN, run a scan please."

"Of course Miss." The computer responded. A blur light briefly covered the engine. "Engine quality is nearly 76% complete. A new carburettor is needed along with a fuel gage before it can be fully restored."

Angel sighed. "What's the current market price for a carburettor?"

"The current average market price for a carburettor is $180?"

Angel groaned. "Dammit. Thank you YINSIN."

"You're welcome Miss."

"DJ," Angel snapped her fingers, "Clean this up."

"Miss," YINSIN called out. "It seems you have a visitor." A camera showed up on the screen showing that there was indeed a visitor at the front door.

Angel left the garage and walked around the side of the house. "Hey," the person turned around. "Ritchie?"

"Hey Angel. How you doing?"

"I'm good. What are you doing here?"

"My bike broke down, a few miles out." He gestured to the four-wheeler that was sitting there. "I was wondering, you know if you could take a look at it. If you ain't too busy."

"Your timing is good. I just cleared up." His shoulder sank in obvious relief. "I'll slide open the door for you."

He nodded and went to retrieve his bike from where is was sat in the driveway.

"Holy shit." Ritchie said upon entering the garage. "Did you rob a bank, girl?"

"No, I uh, won this stuff." Angel stammered. "In an engineering competition that I uh entered . . . over the break. Yup, that's what I did." She mumbled the last part.

"Must've been one hell of a competition." He said still staring in awe. "For this prize."

"Yup it was." Angel nodded quickly trying to end the conversation.

"Right, so where should I?" He gestured to his bike.

"Just push it right here." She pointed to the space behind her corvette. "YINSIN close the garage door please." Ritchie stared in even more disbelief. "Like you said, one hell of a competition. Uh, DJ, come down here we've got more work to do." The orange robot was like an excitable puppy, every task given he was more than happy to complete.

* * *

"We found you problem," Angel said not to long after. "You're intake valve is shot, that would definitely effect the bikes performance. When was the last time you had this thing checked?"

"Last year, when me and some friends rode over to Knoxville."

Angel smiled. "Yeah that'll do it. And I'm guessing this thing doesn't see much action outside of days like that but it still needs proper maintenance." DJ had started poking around in the toolbox. "DJ!" Angel snapped and the robot dropped his claw in shame. "Anyways I don't get much bikes in here to service so I don't have a valve that'll fit. The auto body shop across town, check them out." She advised. "There's a temporary hold on it right now, should get you home."

Ritchie sighed and hung his head. "Alright." He said standing from the stool he had settled on, and reaching for his back pocket. "How much?"

"It's on the house."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Angel nodded. "YINSIN, please open up the garage door and lock up when we leave."

"Of course Miss."

As Ritchie started pushing his bike back out he seemed to be debating with something.

"Listen Angel, I wanted to apologize." At her confused look her went onto explain. "About Damien." Angel scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah I know. But you didn't deserve to be treated that way, hell no one does. But Damien cares, he just has a hard time showing it."

Angel shook her head. "Don't defend him Ritchie. I'm over it."

"You shouldn't be. Cause you shouldn't have had to deal with that shit. And I know how bad he was to you but I never did nothing." He sighed. "Look what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry and I hope me and you could still be friends."

"Yeah," Angel smiled. "I'd like that."

Ritchie nodded. "I'll catch you later."

She nodded and watched him get on his bike and leave before walking next door to gather up her kids.


	11. Chapter 11

**Shoutout to** ** _NicoleR85,_ and The Guest Reviewer for their support. **

* * *

"I don't get how you do it baby." Miss Taylor said as they moved down an aisle in the grocery store.

"Do what Miss T?" Angel questioned looking for something she could make for dinner.

"You be out there in that garage every night, I know you don't be going to bed until nothing o'clock in the morning. Then you out at the hospital a couple hours after you get in."

"All of that is true. Do you have a point?" Angel asked looking at the prices on various canned foods.

"My point is. You gonna' run yourself dry if you keep carrying on like that."

"I'm not running myself dry," Angel responded, at the look Miss Taylor gave her she repeated. "I'm not! Look, it's easier for me to- I'm not having this conversation with you in the middle of a grocery store."

"Mhm." Miss Taylor mumbled. "We gonna' talk when we get home."

"Mhm." Angel mocked. Deciding on a can of cream of mushroom soup to go along with the casserole that she was planning to make. She placed it into the trolley.

Chanel was in the seat at the front of the trolley, sucking on her pacifier her head swivelling from side to side as she tried to catch her big sister who had made a game of popping her head up on her shoulder and quickly ducking back down.

"Chanel, sit down." Angel said smiling not wanted to interrupt their game. Chanel did as told and they moved through to the next aisle.

"Angel!" They heard a voice call out stopping them in their tracks.

"Damien." Angel responded less than enthuse as he approached them and he nodded respectfully to Miss Taylor. "Miss T, you remember Damien. D, Miss Taylor."

"How you doing?" He said to the older woman.

"I'm doing alright." She responded shortly. "You good baby?" she question placing her hand on Angel's shoulder.

"Yeah I'm good. Would you mind?" Angel asked nodding to the trolley.

"Alright then, c'mon y'all," she said beginning to push the trolley. "I'm gon' be right over here, eavesdropping."

"How you doing D? Some of the nurses told me you got burned pretty bad the other day." She said referring to the incident she half accidently caused.

"Yeah, I was a little banged up but I'll live." He answered and they stood in awkward silence for a beat. "So that's them huh?" he said nodding down the aisle to where Miss Taylor and the girls were, Chanel and Marina once again playing, Miss Taylor joining in.

"Yup."

"They got big."

"Yeah, it's amazing right."

"They're beautiful, both of them. They look just like you."

"Lucky me."

"Any chance I could say 'hi', you know. Meet them?"

"Not a chance in hell. You had that opportunity and you left."

"Listen Angel-"

Angel cut him off. "Did you need something D?"

"Nah."

She nodded and began to walk away. "I'll see you around D."

"Alright Angel." Damien said going in the opposite direction.

"You good baby?" Miss Taylor questioned when she approached the trolley.

"Always." She said smiling. "C'mon let's checkout, we're done here."

* * *

Luckily in her old age, Miss Taylor's memory wasn't the best, therefore their conversation from the grocery store did not finish.

Angel however did wait until after dinner when Miss Taylor had left to head to her garage in case seeing her go in there would have restarted the conversation.

Digging through a box of rubble that she hadn't noticed until know and somehow did not get thrown away during Tony's renovations, Angel found a curious little item.

She hummed and took out the broken hand repulsor and put the box back down to the side. Placing it around her wrist she took note of the broken glass at the end and decided that it couldn't fire anymore, but it could be modified to something else.

"YINSIN, wake up." Angel called out. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything for you Miss."

"Tell me what this is made out of."

"Certainly Miss."

Taking it off her wrist she placed it onto the middle of the table where YINSIN scanned it.

"The object in question is made from a titanium- alloy Miss."

"That's what I thought." Angel nodded to herself. "Same thing as Tony's suits."

"Correct Miss."

Angel picked it up and examined it once more.

"YINSIN, what's the highest temperature this metal can withstand?"

"The melting point for titanium alloy is approximately 890 degrees Celsius. 1634 degrees Fahrenheit and 1163.15 degrees Kelvin."

"Interesting." Angel hummed. Grabbing a pen and book she began scribbling out sketches and data analysis.

"DJ, I need my tool bag." She called over to the robot who brought over the bag in question. "Thank you."

She took out a small screw driver and began taking apart the broken repulsor.

"Well, don't just stand there, you know your job." Angel told the robot who went and grabbed the light before speeding back over.

From there the garage was absolutely silent, save for the sounds of Angel tinkering away at the repulsor. Up until she started mumbling to herself. Not in English.

 _"Todo lo que necesito saber es una fuente de combustible que no se quema cuando se enciende una llama. Gas quema a rápido. Necesito un probador. Dios mío."_

"Miss, might I ask exactly what it is your making?" YINSIN questioned as she went to get some gas from a jug that she was saving for the car.

 _"Estoy haciendo una muñeca-_ "Angel stopped herself not knowing whether or not YININ was multi-linigual, all though he probably was. "I'm making a wrist-mounted flamethrower."

Pulling on the now completely modified repulsor, Angel took a breath.

"YINSIN, make a note of this please. 'Gasoline fuelled wrist mounted flamethrower, test 1'."

Opening her palm and twisting her wrist so that it created a spark Angel, caught the spark and expanded it so that it was a fire ball floating above her palm, she closed her hand and it went out.

She managed to do this three move times before the gas ran out.

"Just like I thought. YINSIN can you-" a large yawn ripping through her throat cut her off. "What time is it?"

"It's 2:45 am Miss."

"Perfect." Angel said sarcastically, removing the flamethrower. "YINSIN can you please look up alternatives to gasoline. I'll look at your results tomorrow." She said standing. "Goodnight YINSIN, goodnight DJ." She said to the robot who waved as she left.

"Sleep well Miss."

* * *

 **Short filler chapter because I've been gone so long.**

 **Spanish to English translation (From Google)**

Todo lo que necesito saber es una fuente de combustible que no se quema cuando se enciende una llama. Gas quema a rápido. Necesito un probador. Dios mío. - All I need know is a fuel source that won't burn out when I light a flame. Gas burns to quick. I need a tester. My god.


	12. Chapter 12

**Shoutout to** ** _NicoleR85_ for the review. **

**And I can't wait either.**

* * *

A few weeks later, Marina's first birthday had come and gone with little fanfare, and Chanel's sixth birthday was quickly approaching. Unfortunately for Angel, Chanel wanted nothing more than to go to the zoo for her birthday, seeing as she was completely obsessed with animals these days. Sadly there were no zoos in Rosehill, so that left Angel trying to figure out how she could get enough money and a car to drive up to Nashville and visit the zoo there, which was mediocre at best not to mention it was a nearly 4 hour drive..

She knew for a fact that the zoo in New York City, the central park zoo to be exact, was one of the best. And a possible phone call to Tony could make it happen, but she wasn't a freeloader.

So that left her at home on the couch on her day off with a notepad on her lap as she scribbled out different possible alternatives.

The house was unsettlingly quiet at least to Angel since Chanel was in school and Ms. Taylor was in her own house, the quiet was broken every once in a while by Marina, who was in her bouncer, we bouncing around and the machine squeaked every now and then interrupting the silence.

"Okay, so how about we go to Nashville for Chanel's birthday, think she'll like that?" Angel asked Marina the latest in the series of doomed ideas.

Marina replied with a string of baba's and vigorous bouncing. "Yeah I didn't think so either." Angel sighed them crossed that out too.

Then her phone rang and she glanced down at the caller before lighting up and answering it.

"Hi Babe." She answered brightly.

"Hey," a deep voice crawled over the phone. "You haven't talk to me in weeks. Why do you hate me?"

"It's been a crazy few weeks."

"To crazy to send a text? To make a call? I thought you loved me!" he waited dramatically.

Angel laughed "Of course I love you, you drama queen. But the phone works both ways." Angel said watching Marina play with the toys that lines her bouncer.

"True. What are you up to?"

"Playing with Marina, trying to make plans for Chanel's birthday."

"Ohh, where's my munchkin I miss her."

"School, and she misses you too."

She heard him huff over the phone and could practically envision the pout on his face. "Tell Marina I said hi."

"Uncle Seb says hi." Angel told the baby who responded with "bab". "She says hi."

"Of course she does." He said arrogantly. "I've been contemplating time-travel."

"What's the matter, your plans for invisibility failed?"

"Back-burner for now. Besides the schematics I had for that blows. Too improbable."

"Baby, there were aliens falling from the sky less than a year ago. I doubt time-travel is still that improbable."

He hummed in response. "I'll reconsider. Anyways I need a favour."

"There's always something with you." Angel said fondly.

"Relax, look you still connected to the dark web?"

"Always, what do you want?"

"I'm gonna need a ticket."

"Are too busy getting monkeys to do crack, to do this kind of stuff yourself?" Angel questioned picking Marina up out of her bouncer.

"Yeah actually, I am."

"Okay then."

"Whatever," Angel sighed as Marina played with her ring. "I miss you Seb."

"I miss you too. Don't take so long talking to me alright I worry about you."

"I know. I'll send you the ticket when I get it."

"Thank You. And don't stress about Chanel's birthday. She'll love it no matter what."

"How'd you know I was stressing?"

"Cuz' I know you baby. Anyway, love you I gotta go."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

Angel held Marina up to be at eye level. "Your uncle is trying to get me arrested." Marina smiled and giggled then started bouncing again. "I know."

* * *

A while later Angel had given Marina a snack of her favourite 'nanas' or bananas when she heard Chanel's school bus pull up. She moved to unlock the door then went back to the living room and had fun watching Marina try and find her mouth.

At least until she was interrupted by an unexpected voice.

"Ms. Angel?" the new voice made her whip around.

"Harvey?" Sure enough there was Harvey Keen, the eight year old from down the street who used to spend his afternoons and sometimes evenings there when his mom had to work. It's been a while since he visited but there with was holding hands with a teary eyed Chanel.

"What happened?" She asked immediately scooping up Marina and sitting on the couch encouraging the two children to do the same. "Baby? Harvey? What happened?"

"Some kids at school were being mean to Chanel because she doesn't have a dad." Marina was now leaning over Angel's lap to poke at her sister's face either trying to wipe her face or get her to smile. "They said he left because, she's a freak." Marina had now left Angel's lap and was standing on the couch hugging her big sister. "I'm sorry, Ms. Angel. I told the teacher." Harvey finished.

"It's alright Harvey." Angel said shaking her head. "Thank you for bringing her home."

"You're welcome." He said getting up from the couch.

"Want me to walk you?" Angel asked making to get up.

"That's alright."

"Alright, tell your mom I said hello."

"I will. Bye Chanel," he said softly. "Bye Ms. Angel."

"Chanel," Angel said softly. "C'mere baby, it's okay." Angel cooed pulling her into her lap. "It's okay. I love you."

Chanel looked up. "Who is he momma?"

* * *

"What am I gonna' do Sebastian?" Angel was in the kitchen pacing and was once again on the phone with Sebastian, it was just before bedtime and the girls were winding down with a colouring book.

"Baby, you knew this day was coming." Sebastian said.

"I didn't know it was gonna' come this fast. Seb she's five," Angel said. "She can't know."

"Maybe she needs to. Or would you rather her spend the rest of her life looking for him."

"No!" She said incredulously.

"The girl wants to know her father Angel."

Angel leaned back against the counter. "I don't think that's it Seb. I think she just feels like she's missing out on something. But you and I both know that she's better off not knowing."

"She is? Or you are?"

"Don't give me that." Angel deadpanned.

"I don't like it any more than you do. But maybe it's possible that he changed."

"I doubt that. If you recall, he was the spawn of hell itself. Or do you not remember?"

"Of course I remember. I can't forget something like that." He said then sighed heavily. "Look I'm not gonna' tell you what to do, just make the right choice, for her and for you."

Angel nodded. "Goodnight Seb."

"Night Angel."

"You ready to talk? " Angel asked Chanel as she walked back into the living room. "Okay, go take a bath."

Chanel nodded and Angel picked up Marina who was nodding off and took her to change into her pyjamas. Then took her into her room same laid down with her until she fell asleep.

Then she carefully laid her down in the middle of the bed and went to go get Chanel.

"C"mon babe," Angel said stranding in the doorway. "Sleep in my bed tonight."

Chanel nodded and grabbed her favourite teddy bear from her bed before following Angel out the room.

"Okay, what do you wanna know?"

"Why don't I have a daddy?"

Angel smiled softly. "You have a daddy babe."

"Where is he? All the other kids at school talk about their daddies all the time. And they get picked up from school. And they said mine left because he didn't want me." Chanel said starting to tear up again.

"That's not true." Angel said immediately. "You're daddy wasn't a good man babe. And no matter how much he wanted you. He wouldn't have been a good father. But I'm here. I want you. I always have and I always will. And you know who else?"

"Who?"

"Ms. Taylor, Marina, Uncle Seb. There are so many people around you that are _here,_ Okay?" Chanel nodded. "Don't cry about things like that anymore."

"Okay momma."

"Gimme a kiss." Chanel smiled and leaned up to place one in her cheek.

* * *

"Do you know how much a flight to New York City is?" Angel asked Ms. Taylor the next day.

"Why are you so intent on going there?"

"To be honest, I wasn't. But last night she asked me about her dad," Ms. Taylor gasped. "So I feel like I owe her something." Angel sighed. "I know it's crazy, but there's a chance I could kill two birds with one stone."

"How so?"

"Tony Stark is there." Ms. Taylor nodded appreciatively. "If I can get to New York, maybe we can visit him, see Stark Tower-"

"Live the dream." Ms. Taylor interrupted.

"For a while at least." Angel agreed.

"Well what are we waiting for then? C'mon we gotta' find y'all some tickets." Ms. Taylor said tossing Angel her phone, then pulling out her own.


	13. Author's Note

**Unfortunately this isn't an update, but after giving it a lot of thought I've decided to put this story on hold, indefinitely.**

 **You guys know that feeling when you don't wanna write a story, you wanna read that story. Yeah, that's how I'm feeling right now. I know exactly what I want to write, I just can't make the words** ** _go,_** **you know what I mean?**

 **But never fear, in my unfortunate writer's block for this story in particular, I did jump ahead to Age of Ultron and have that written in it's entirety, as ironic as that is.**

 **So what I'm going to do is post another story with an established Parental Tony/OC (AKA Angel), and that will follow that AOU storyline and will eventually get to Pietro/OC, hopefully sooner rather than later**. **In between that and posting for my other story,** _ **Phoenix has Risen,**_ **I'll probably come back here and add a chapter or two every now and than, and maybe make some changes to previous chapters. But those updates will be sporadic at best and will probably of more of a one-shot compilation feel rather than an actual story.**

 **Working title for that story is** ** _Live Another Day,_** **so be on the lookout for that by the end of this week.**

 **As always I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, what do you think should happen? What are your predictions for AOU?**

 **Let me know.**

 **Also in the works are both a** _ **Night at the Museum**_ **story as well as** _ **Jurassic World,**_ **with Ahkmenrah/OC and Zach Mitchell/OC's respectively. So basically I've been working on everything I could get my hands on, except this story** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ **. But hey, such is life.**

 **So in regards to those which, one who you like to see posted first, if any.**

 **Once again, let me know.**


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